After several years of not doing any holiday baking, I got inspired this week to make a batch of my favorite Christmas cookies remembered from my mom and (recently departed, bless her heart) grandma's seasonal efforts.



They are almond crescents, and the basic recipe is so easy it does not need to be written down, but I will pass along the details here, since this batch turned out so well.

In its simplest form, there is just one pound of almonds, one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, and one pound of flour. The details: Set out one pound of fresh butter to reach cool room temperature several hours before beginning. I used two sticks each of salted and unsalted butter. Take the whole raw almonds and either run them through a course blade in a vintage cast-aluminum food grinder (the way I used to) or pulse them in small batches until you get a texture you like in a food-processor type appliance. I used a chopper attachment for my blender this time. I chose to have a lot of coarse chunks (like fine granola) along with some mealy texture.

Cream the butter in a large bowl with a heavy wooden spoon - it will be hard to work, then begin adding the sugar in small increments. Two cups sugar equals about a pound. I used about half a cup of light brown sugar with the rest white granulated. After the sugar is creamed into the butter, add the almond meal in small batches and continue blending. I ended up using a potatoe masher to supplement the spoon efforts as the dough got denser. Finally, begin adding the flour, working it with your hands into a uniform dough. Four cups of flour equals about a pound. I used one cup of whole wheat flour and three of white.

Gather a small handful of dough into your palm, and shape it into a flat crescent shape sized to your liking by pressing it into shape on the ungreased cookie sheet. Ten to twelve should fill a standard cookie sheet in two rows. They will not flatten or spread much when baked. Place two sheets full of cookies at a time in a preheated oven, probably about 350 degrees. I used my gas convection oven set for 335 degrees, and it took about 16 minutes to get the noticeably browned bottom edges I like. Your mileage may vary. It may be necessary to swap cookie sheets from top to bottom at some point to even browning. After removing from the oven, let them cool a bit before using a spatula to transfer them to cooling racks. They will become quite hard and crunchy after cooling. Cool the pans a bit and repeat until all the dough has been baked.

After the cookies are well cooled (I placed mine on the rack outside in the 5 degree chill for about ten minutes - at least the horrid winter climate here is good for something), begin dredging them in powdered sugar, and tapping off the excess before stacking them on a plate. I do this in a plastic produce bag containing about a cup of the powdered sugar.

These cookies keep well for a week or so in a cool place. I am freezing some (in a coffee can set outside on a patio table) to be dispensed over the coming days.

Hell, Pat even strung a row of lights over our front door - this is major Christmas involvement for us. We'll be going up to the ranch in Wyoming on Christmas day to share the cheer with Mona and Clark. Mona always gets her place decorated a bit with ornaments and candles and such, so that is nice, and we'll have a lots of good things to eat and drink. I hope you all will too. Merry Christmas!

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